Originally Published: Dec. 20, 2014 $2.50 PERIODICAL NEWSPAPER CLASSIFICATION DATED MATERIAL PLEASE RUSH!! C M

Vol. 34, No. 13 “For The Buckeye Fan Who Needs To Know More” Dec. 20, 2014 Y Champs At Last K Ohio State Claims Big Ten Title, Berth In Inaugural Playoff

SONNY BROCKWAY ANOTHER FOR THE TROPHY CASE – Members of the Ohio State football team and head coach (center) celebrate after routing Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.

By RYAN GINN Buckeye Sports Bulletin Staff Writer BSB’s Annual Bowl Preview Standing in the home locker room of Lucas Oil Stadium, covered in stream- Buckeye Sports Bulletin’s 64-page ers, Ohio State safety let out a howl of protest. bowl preview issue is overflowing with It had been suggested to him that, following a 59-0 dismantling of Wisconsin information about Ohio State’s College in the Big Ten Championship Game, Ohio State had finally won something other than the Illibuck trophy under third-year head coach Urban Meyer. Football Playoff bid as well as features, “We got those gold pants!” Powell said. “You can’t forget about those.” news and updates on all of OSU athletics, Up until that Dec. 6 night in Indianapolis, Ohio State’s three wins against including: Michigan ranked among the program’s most significant accomplishments over • A preview of the Sugar Bowl against the last four seasons. Alabama, including our staff prediction, sea- The 2011 team, playing under interim head coach , finished son stats, bowl notes, a feature about the 6-6 in the regular season before losing to Florida in the Gator Bowl. The 2012 hyped coaching matchup between Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, group ran the table but was banned from the postseason. The unbeaten streak eventually morphed into a 24-game run, but Ohio State lost both postseason and more games in 2013 to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game and to Clemson in • A recap and stats from the Buckeyes’ satisfying Big Ten the Orange Bowl. Championship Game blowout of Wisconsin Other than fifth-year senior right tackle Darryl Baldwin, who didn’t play • A rundown of the top moments from the 2014 season and an during the 2010 season that ended with a league title and Sugar Bowl win, update on injured quarterback J.T. Barrett nobody on the team had won a conference crown or a bowl game. • For those of you traveling to the game, a rundown of attrac- When the clock ticked down to zero in the fourth quarter, members of the tions in the New Orleans area from Louisiana native and BSB staff- 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes could no longer say they were a group without a ring. Sure, there were division titles in three consecutive years, but the Buckeyes er Ryan Ginn hadn’t been able to capitalize on that for reasons on the field (2013) and off • A feature on Ohio’s new Mr. Football, OSU commit Joey (2012). Burrow, as part of nine pages of recruiting and high school football The last five minutes on the sideline felt like a party. Players crept over coverage to the Gatorade jugs and attacked their coaches from behind, while others • Reports on the men’s and women’s basketball, men’s hockey exchanged hugs or danced on benches. and wrestling programs • Plus all of BSB’s regular briefs, columns and features Continued On Page 10 Originally Published: Dec. 20, 2014

COVER STORY Seniors Get First Taste Of Championship Glory Continued From Page 1 stayed on the field for a different reason. The hill to climb became even greater Celebratory hats and shirts were passed because Michigan State lost at Oregon that “We’ve been waiting for this for four around and donned, and players clambered same day, lessening the impact of a potential years,” senior defensive tackle Michael up to the dais for the trophy presentation. win against the Spartans and leaving the Big Bennett said. “It means so much to me to be There, the silver football that adorns the Ten the butt of jokes across the country. To able to do this with these senior guys. And all conference championship trophy was passed top it off, the Buckeyes were forced to nav- these young guys that have contributed and around, kissed one at a time as it made its igate these obstacles without their starting take it seriously, you don’t see that in every way through the masses. Meyer held it up quarterback, who happened to be the two- program where the young guys look up to as confetti and streamers shot upward in the time reigning conference MVP. the seniors and respect them the way our background. Meyer said Dec. 7 that young guys do. That just means a lot to me “It’s truly special,” senior tight end Jeff programs are the most complex organiza- because it shows how close this team is and Heuerman said. “Your senior year, being a tions in the world, more so than major cor- how much we care about each other. captain, this is what you set out to do at the porations or any other complicated entity. As “We’ve been hyped up before a lot of beginning of the year and we accomplished such, direction has to be set at the top. games, but this game was different – the it and that’s truly special. I can’t thank these “When you talk about 18- to 22-year-olds, way guys looked at each other, the way guys guys enough on this team and this coaching what made that (success) happen? You see cared about each other. Just so much intensi- staff for putting in so much work and getting a lot of times where that doesn’t happen ty, and people have taken ownership in what us to here. It truly paid off tonight as you can and everyone’s intention is for it to happen,” they do. It was incredible. I’m blessed to be see. We played nine units strong, and you Meyer said. “I think it’s a combination of a part of it.” can see what happens when we do that.” things. We spent an inordinate amount of Ohio State celebrated though it did Heuerman was just one of the seniors time on leadership training for our coaches not know its playoff fate, an answer that who helped the Buckeyes navigate an unlike- in the offseason. We’ve never done that became clear about 12 hours later when the ly road that now could lead all the way to the before. I’m glad we don’t have selfish coach- Buckeyes were picked as one of the four top and for whom the championship ring es or people that are above and beyond it. SONNY BROCKWAY teams that will compete for the inaugural holds such great meaning. They went to class. Our coaches went to TITLE TIME – Ohio State senior College Football Playoff. workshops on leadership training, on how defensive lineman Michael Bennett, Recovery Mode But for one night in Indianapolis, the to develop the room – we call it power of the wearing the No. 53 of late teammate potential of what was to come didn’t matter. The fact that Ohio State even put itself in unit, and I saw improvement. Kosta Karageorge, helped lead the Ohio State had won the championship it so a position to win a conference championship “The linebackers were a very poor unit Buckeyes to a 59-0 win in the Big Ten deeply coveted, and done so at a place that and compete for a national title is a minor a year ago. They’re one of our strongest held harsh memories. miracle on its own. now. It’s the same coach, coaching better. Championship Game vs. Wisconsin. In 2013, the Buckeyes trudged off the field When the dust settled after the second It’s phenomenal the way they’ve improved. road against Michigan State and Penn State as Michigan State players pranced around week of the season, the Buckeyes were in I think that’s one reason – our unit leaders put the Buckeyes in position to erase the bad with roses in their teeth after an unexpected as about as bad a position as they could have done a phenomenal job developing our memories from one year ago and to show the 34-24 victory over Ohio State. The loss hurt, have been up to that point. They’d just lost units. We also, for two years now, put our country just how much they’d grown since and some players stuck around on the field 35-21 to at home, plummeting players through leadership training as well, the loss to Virginia Tech. afterward to soak in the disappointment. to a No. 22 ranking in the Associated Press and I think it’s paying off.” “This doesn’t happen without the leader- After the Wisconsin game, the Buckeyes writers’ poll. Ohio State began reeling off victories ship demonstrated by the guys who usually one after the next, but the end of the season sit in the front row who are called seniors,” presented a myriad of challenges. Luckily Meyer said after the win over the Badgers. for the Buckeyes, the senior captains helped “Mike Bennett, he just finished his best guide the underclassman-heavy team to safe three weeks as a Buckeye. I don’t know how harbors week after week. Against Minnesota, he played – I think he played pretty good, but Bennett gave an impassioned speech at half- I’m not talking about that. time of what became a 31-24 win against the “I’m talking about his development as a Golden Gophers. leader, a guy that I can count on, a guy that Two weeks later, he was back at it in the doesn’t whine and moan and complain about third quarter of the Michigan game as Ohio stuff. That’s kind of how he got through it in State went back-and-forth with the toothless the old days, and that’s not the case now.” Wolverines. The Buckeyes corrected course The seniors had some help from some and finished with a 42-28 triumph. of the younger players, too. Meyer said in In addition to those wins, victories on the the Dec. 7 press conference that he didn’t

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10 • BUCKEYE SPORTS BULLETIN Dec. 20, 2014 www.BuckeyeSports.com Originally Published: Dec. 20, 2014

COVER STORY College Football Playoff 2014-15 OSU Football Schedule Date Opponent Result/Time Opp. Record Bowl Game, Date No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State Aug. 30 vs. Navy (at Baltimore) W, 34-17 7-5 Poinsettia vs. San Diego State, Dec. 23 Rose Bowl • Pasadena, Calif. • Jan. 1, 2015 • 5 p.m. Sept. 6 VIRGINIA TECH L, 35-21 6-6 Military vs. Cincinnati, Dec. 27 Sept. 13 KENT STATE W, 66-0 2-9 None Sept. 27 CINCINNATI W, 50-28 9-3 Military vs. Virginia Tech, Dec. 27 Oct. 4 at Maryland W, 52-24 7-5 Foster Farms vs. Stanford, Dec. 30 No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Ohio State Oct. 18 RUTGERS W, 56-17 7-5 Quick Lane vs. North Carolina, Dec. 26 Sugar Bowl • New Orleans • Jan. 1, 2015 • 8:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Penn State W, 31-24 (2OT) 6-6 Pinstripe vs. Boston College, Dec. 27 Nov. 1 ILLINOIS W, 55-14 6-6 Heart of Dallas vs. La. Tech, Dec. 26 Nov. 8 at Michigan State W, 49-37 10-2 Cotton vs. Baylor, Jan. 1 CFP National Championship Game Nov. 15 at Minnesota W, 31-24 8-4 Citrus vs. Missouri, Jan. 1 Nov. 22 INDIANA W, 42-27 4-8 None Arlington, Texas • Jan. 12, 2015 • 8:30 p.m. Nov. 29 MICHIGAN W, 42-28 5-7 None Dec. 6 vs. Wisconsin* W, 59-0 10-3 Outback vs. Auburn, Jan. 1 anticipate the success of redshirt freshmen didn’t think it was possible that the playoff Jan. 1 vs. Alabama** 8:30 p.m. 12-1 Sugar vs. Ohio State, Jan. 1 such as linebacker , quarterback selection committee could leave out the * – Big Ten Championship Game (at Indianapolis) ** – Sugar Bowl (at New Orleans) J.T. Barrett and Eli Apple, all Buckeyes. of whom were chosen as Freshman All- “Watch the film. Watch the film of what when they are functioning on all cylinders?’ I at home to an eventual 6-6 team will get up to Americans. we just did,” Bennett said. “We functioned personally think we can beat anybody.” two more games to prove themselves against “I didn’t think Darron Lee would per- on all cylinders tonight, and when you see Thanks in part to his leadership and the the best teams in the country. form like an All-Big Ten outside linebacker,” something like that happen you have to take guidance of the other three team captains as If the Buckeyes find themselves down at Meyer said. “He’s not quite there but darn a step back and wonder, ‘Who can’t they beat well, the group that lost by two touchdowns any point, they’ll know whom to turn to. close. To see the development of Eli Apple, I thought he was a very average player. He’s not an average player anymore, he’s a pretty good player. We had two sophomore safe- ties that never started before. J.T. Barrett, I thought he’d be OK. “It is a long journey. When did it start? I started seeing it, but I didn’t believe it completely until the experience that we had against Wisconsin.” The seniors helped bring out that play in the underclassmen, though. Speaking after the Big Ten Championship Game, Apple said that the redshirt freshmen made it their mission to live up to the example set by the leaders on the team. “I love the seniors,” Apple said. “I love all those guys. They’re maybe the best group of seniors in Ohio State history right now. We just made it a mission as underclassmen, because we’re a young team, to play hard for them. It’s a great feeling.”

Playoff Payoff After 11 wins in a row, Meyer and his players still had to sweat out a playoff announcement. With one spot left, the floodgates of relief opened when ESPN announced that the Buckeyes had received the fourth and final spot and would be taking on No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It capped a torturous morning for Meyer, who watched the announcement at his house alongside Ohio State director of athletics Gene Smith. Meyer pressured Smith for information, figuring his boss would be plugged in. At that point, Smith had the unhappy task of telling Meyer that not even Big Ten com- missioner Jim Delany knew whether the Buckeyes would be in or out. “Gene came over to my house and I said, ‘What do you got?’ He said the commissioner doesn’t even know,’ ” Meyer said. “I thought, ‘Come on.’ I thought he was going to wink or give me the thumbs up like he’s done in the past. It wasn’t that way at all.” While players confessed to nerves about the announcement, senior linebacker played it cool hours after the pairings were made public. “I just didn’t know if we would be three or four,” he said. “It didn’t really matter to me as long as we were in there. If you look, we had a championship game and the other two (Big 12 teams), they’re sharing a champion- ship. Which team would you go with? The team that actually fought the last game or two teams that are sharing a championship?” Bennett expressed a similar belief before- hand, saying in the Indianapolis Colts’ locker room after the win against Wisconsin that he www.BuckeyeSports.com Dec. 20, 2014 BUCKEYE SPORTS BULLETIN • 11